Another Year, Another List of Rich People

The big news from Forbes’s annual list of the world’s billionaires is that Planet Earth has a new richest man: Carlos Slim Helú, the Mexican telecommunications magnate who now owns a substantial minority share of The New York Times. He weighs in at $53.5 billion. Muchas felicitationes!

But you want to know where the Jews—say, those in the top 50—are. The short answer is: They’re down.

• The richest Jew, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, fell from fourth to sixth, and from $22.5 billion to … well, to $28 billion, but obviously you’d rather have the higher ranking than the extra $5.5 billion.

• New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg dropped further, from 17th to 23rd, and from $16 billion to $18 billion (no way you could trade me six slots for $2 billion).

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Slim was born in Mexico City, Mexico. His father, Julián Slim Haddad (Arabic جوليان سليم حداد), arrived in Mexico in 1902 from Lebanon, alone at 14 years of age and speaking no Spanish; he was escaping from the Ottoman Empire, which at the time conscripted young men into its army – mothers therefore sent their sons to exile before turning fifteen. Carlos Slim’s mother, Linda Helú (Arabic ليندا حلو), was born in Parral, Chihuahua; she was the daughter of José Helú (Arabic جوزيه حلو) and Wadiha Atta (Arabic وضيحة عطا), Lebanese immigrants who arrived in Mexico at the end of the 19th century, brought the first Arabic printing press to Mexico, and founded one of the first magazines for the Lebanese community in the country. In 1911, Julián established a dry goods store called La Estrella del Oriente (The Eastern Star) and purchased real estate in downtown Mexico City. In August 1926, Julián Slim and Linda Helú married in Mexico City; they had six children, of whom Carlos was the youngest boy.

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